Boys basketball: Branson's defense stifles Redwood

Working the ball around in the fourth quarter, Redwood High's boys basketball team found the right person: Will Breck, for a left-corner 3-pointer.

But whatever space he had, Branson's Taylor Walton closed it in a hurry.

Walton, the Bulls' 6-foot-4 Occidental-bound standout, rose up for the emphatic rejection — an apt illustration of the stifling defense that gave Branson a 51-34 road victory on Friday night.

The Bulls (20-4, 10-2) now enter the final week of MCAL play in a first-place tie with Drake after smothering the Giants (13-11, 8-4), who have now lost two straight.

"We're a team that prides ourselves on defense," Walton said. "We're happy to get the win, but we can't play like we're in first place. We have to play like we're playing for first place."

Walton was brilliant offensively, tallying 18 points on an efficient 9-of-14 shooting. he also pulled down eight rebounds. Playing without veterans Matt Daly and Tony Caletti due to injury, the Bulls were led by Walton and Henry Feinberg (11 points), as well as the steady point guard play of Colin Joyce (12 points).

But the story was the way that Branson, using its long front line, stymied Redwood's up-tempo attack into a season-low point total.

"It takes a monumental effort for five guys to defend together," Bulls coach Bret Tovani said. "This was a complete team effort."

Indeed, Branson was able to keep the Giants out of the paint and in the half-court, allowing them to shoot just 27-percent from the floor. Redwood was forced to live at the 3-point line, where the hosts went 5 of 23. Mike Sullivan and Molefi Thompson led Redwood with eight points apiece, while Breck, after hitting a pair of early 3s, finished with only six points.

Branson led 24-19 after a defensive struggle of a first half, with Walton and Feinberg delivering brief scoring spurts to combine for 17 points. Feinberg would be sidelined later in the game by an ankle injury.

But Branson was able to pull away after the break, using a buzzer-beating 3-pointer at the third-quarter horn by Joyce to go up 40-29.

"They just gave us the business tonight," said Redwood coach Steve Compagno, whose club scored just five points in the fourth quarter. "They outplayed us in every facet of the game. They took us out of what we wanted to do and we just never got into a rhythm."